Teenage Engineering PO-12 Rhythm Pocket Operator - Drum Machine

If I were allowed to swear I would. This device is brilliant. If I explain why I bought it you'll see what hole it fills. This is important as if you want something super basic this is not for you; if you want something with every bell and whistle out there, this is not for you eitther. Right, here we go: I have played on iPhone apps that allow you to sequence drum machines. They are fun but they all seem a little too basic and far off what a professional may use. They also do not 'feel' like a good stepping stone into music production. So I wondered what to go for. I checked out software first. There seemed to be lots out there ranging in price and complexity. I was reluctant to go out and buy some software that would just put me off for life. You know what I mean: you go and buy photoshop pro, try to draw a circle and find you have to spend four hours on Google to learn how to do it! I did not want the photoshop pro version of music sequencing; I did not want to have to boot up the computer sit at a table with a mouse (and possibly a keyboard) to get going. I wanted something the size of an iPhone that I could just grab and make music. Then along came this bad boy: the pocket operator. Before you read on check out YouTube to see what people have done with it. When you link it up with another (or even more) you can get some real professional music laid. How easy it is: I am gonna be honest. It was not intuitive for me. You can't just open it and get stuck in. I struggled to even play around to work out what things did. This may not be the case if you have experience of this sort of thing; the symbols (pun intended) may mean something to you. I was a little frustrated but remembered why I bought it. I wanted something a little more professional that a simple iPhone app. And that was gonna require a little learning. So I put the work in. If you have peace you can become proficient with its use in about an hour. You may need to refer back to the instructions to remind you how to do some if it but it is actually relatively simple. I would advice learning one function then spending a few minutes playing with it then moving on. The hard part is actually making a good track. But then if that was easy we would all be pop stars! The internal speaker is not brilliant but it is much better than I was expecting so don't let that put you off; with earphones its perfect. It takes two AA batteries and is constantly on. There is no off button but this does not matter. To my understanding most of the screen is just for show but some of it does help. All the LEDs near each button all mean different things depending on what you are doing. I found it a little confusing at first but quickly got the hang of it. So, if you are looking to put your foot in the water - get this; it is wicked. I was picking my wife up from somewhere the other day. I arrived early so killed 15 minutes in the car with the Operator, wrote a little track and smiled. Boom! I read that the Rhythm was was the best to get if you were just getting one. It is not just a drum machine; you can get melody on your tracks to.

The po 12 is pretty cool, it's a very compact drum machine with more control then I was expecting. All pocket operators have the same core functions and controls, so once you know the layout of one its very easy to transfer over to a new pocket operator. This wasn't my first model and it was very easy learn. I did get triped up with how to chain them together; I would of liked if you could pause and play a slave po and have it sync with the masters click track, however what actually happens is once you pause a slave you need to stop and start the master controller, it's not a huge deal but that was one of the few nitpicks I've found. Overall I love these things, and they are fun to try to incorporate into a proper set to accompany more traditional instruments

It's loud, it's got plenty of funks, twists & efx to keep it interesting & individual. The sounds are awesome, amazing from such a small machine. I have this and the OP 20 Arcade and together they smash it. Combine patterns to get a decent length of a track, either using editable preset patterns or new patterns constructed by yourself. Tap in hits live to record or by using the step sequencer to switch on/off hits (aided by red led) 16 sounds 16 patterns 16 effects Only the live editing of sounds is missing to me, you have to stop the track to edit each sound & then restart the track. On the Arcade you can do it all on the fly.

Very cool little gadget, slightly damaged packaging

Lots of options on this unit and a great value!!

They're fantastic, addictive and great fun! Downside, the Instructions are basic and you will need to watch some U tube vids. Many of these are not very good, people showing off and not explaining, but there are some good ones. 3/4 minutes don't bother, look for 10/15 minutes. The POs power down after 5 minutes inactivity, EXCEPT if there’s an audio cable plugged into the IN jack and then it’s 60 minutes. This flattens the battery MUCH quicker! I had a Rhythm and a Sub chained together, the Rhythm last in the chain with a cable in the IN jack. After 3 weeks the Sub battery is 94% and the Rhythm 43%. DON’T leave them chained together! Press Sound + BPM for battery % remaining. Swapping the dying batteries around I found the POs are on the edge of giving up at around 40% The on board speaker, well it works, it’s OK, headphones are better, but get some amplification, I play mine through a guitar amp, awesome! Doug

I ordered this on a whim, and my initial thoughts were that it was a bit ‘meh’- an interesting toy, and little more. Then I watched a short YouTube video by Red Means Recording and it became apparent just how deep this thing actually is. My next step was to run in through my Pignose amp, and that gave the sounds the meatiness that had been lacking from the puny onboard speaker, and then I ran it into AUM with a bunch of fx- and it was awesome. To be honest, it does have a limited palette of sounds , but that which it does have are pretty adjustable, and it stands comparison with any other hardware drum synth out there for under £50. Oh, and unlike some synths out there, it syncs well with other hardware. Worth the investment.

Teenage Engineering deserve high praise for what they're doing with the Pocket Operators. There is truly nothing better to while away the time on long train or plane journeys. In the 80's a device that can do what the PO12 does would have cost well over a thousand pounds. I've been programming drums and percussion loops for a long time now so it only took half an hour to learn all the functions and to get my head around the step writing system. Adding effects and bleeps with the ability to record the filtering/pitch live was a genius idea for this device, it turns what could have been just a drum machine into so much more. Getting the batteries in and out took a bit of getting used to. I'm still discovering and playing with some of the features like swing, copying patterns, playing groups of patterns. A great device at a reasonable price.

super krachtige toestel. ik kan huren lang oefenen en nieuwe ritmes maken

Fun, addictive, and sounds great. Like all teenage engineering products, it's a little bit pricey for what it is, but it is well made and I expect it to last a long time with regular use. Most importantly though, it sounds awesome and the learning curve is pretty quick and it's quite easy to make and edit fun and usable percussion loops. There are lots of tutorials around on YouTube and the like so watch a couple and go for it!

Fun to fiddle about with. good sounds

Strumento divertentissimo. Prima o poi comprerò anche gli altri della stessa casa, possono essere usati tutti collegati in parallelo.

Ótimo pra criação, estudos e pocket performances. É mesmo lofi, mas os recursos de efeitos dão o charme e se usado com consistência não compromete, torna-se um estilo